Colorado Rockies Did Something, But Not Enough at 2024 Trade Deadline
The Colorado Rockies were not silent at the trade deadline, but they certainly did not sell all they could to improve their future.
For a front office that’s been accused of malpractice for the way they’ve handled the trade deadline in the past, the Colorado Rockies were able to acquire some young players to brighten their future this time around.
After being the only team in Major League Baseball to not swing a deal at the deadline in 2022, operating owner Dick Monfort and GM Bill Schmidt have a better understanding that inactivity can be detrimental to their club.
One year after making a surprising four separate deals to offload five veterans and acquire six pitching prospects in 2023, they made two trades to acquire three pitching prospects.
More elective procedures could have further expedited their rebuild and helped bring an end to the growing playoff drought, but without being in the operating room with the rest of the brain surgeons, it’s hard to know whether or not the surgery was botched.
For a franchise that made two deals of subtraction at the deadline in a decade-long span that included eight losing campaigns from 2013-22 — Troy Tulowitzki and LaTroy Hawkins to Toronto in 2015 and Mychael Givens to Cincinnati in 2021 — the light activity this summer is still an improvement given the history.
If taking into consideration the perceived reticence to trade away players for fear they may go on to have greater success elsewhere, such as IF Marco Scutaro who immediately won a World Series after he was traded to San Francisco in 2012, one could give Colorado a passing score for the 2024 trade deadline when grading on this curve.
Should the recent past of pulling back the team’s most valuable trade asset for the fourth year in a row be part of the equation, then the Rockies have failed once again to make the difficult decisions that will benefit them in the future.
It began with Jon Gray and Trevor Story in 2021. There was belief that the team could re-sign Gray, one of the better starting pitchers in franchise history. Before he officially went onto the open market, the club could have given him a qualifying offer of $18.4 million for one year. That never came to fruition and Gray signed a four-year, $56 million deal with Texas. Colorado was left empty-handed.
The offers for Story were somewhat lackluster due to concern over diminished velocity on his throws. The Rockies were going to be guaranteed a compensation pick should he reject the qualifying offer. (Depending on the contract Story signed with another club, Colorado could have received the 75th pick and not the 31st pick that was often used as a reference point.)
It was a complicated situation by the time the deadline passed and Story removed himself from the lineup in San Diego to clear his head. Could the Rockies have traded Story before the season began when any acquiring team would have had a full season of the All-Star shortstop? Sure.
After dealing Nolan Arenado away that offseason, such a move would have been met with even more vitriol from the fanbase. Once again, the club was resigned to be reactive about the past than proactive about the future.
In 2022, it was C.J. Cron and Daniel Bard. Cron suffered an unfortunate hand injury on a hit-by-pitch in early July. He was able to play through it, but his power suffered greatly. Once again offers were light. (One year later, the club seemed to have a more aggressive approach, dealing Mike Moustakas to the Los Angeles Angels after the team’s 79th game of the season on the night of June 24.)
Bard was dominant that season. Legitimately one of the best closers in the game. Like Gray a year prior, he was pulled from significant trade discussions and given a two-year extension worth $19 million. (In his first year of the deal he pitched to a 4.56 ERA and recorded one save over 50 appearances. Bard’s 2024 campaign ended in April following right flexor tendon surgery.)
Then the 2023 trade deadline was a boon. The pitching coffers were restocked down on the farm while the rookie bats in Denver — Nolan Jones, Ezequiel Tovar and Brenton Doyle — providing hope that things were turning around.
Absent in significant trade discussions last year was their lone All-Star, Elias Díaz. With one more year of club control, he would not be a mere rental to contenders looking for an upgrade at catcher. Like Bard, he was one of the best at his position that year, a power hitting backstop who could hit for average and handle a pitching staff.
Díaz even earned the All-Star Game MVP in Seattle for slugging the go-ahead home run that helped the National League defeat the American League for the first time in 11 years. However, for the third year in a row, the Rockies most valued trade chip did not get tossed to the center of the table.
Then we have this month. Colorado gets one All-Star representation for the fourth year in a row. Never before had the franchise gone more than two years with a solitary selection.
Ryan McMahon, in the middle of a career-year, is removed from a trade market that favors sellers this year more than others in recent memory. He’s still under club control for through 2027 for a below-market $44 million.
Cal Quantrill, in the midst of one of the best first-year seasons for a Rockies’ starting pitcher in team history, stays put. Díaz, banged up, but still valued, stays put before he hits free agency this offseason.
Several other players who are counting the days until next November when they become free agents could have been moved to improve the 2026 or 2027 roster. If that seems too far off or like something purely speculative as it exists three years from now, consider this:
How much better would the Rockies be this season if they had been more aggressive at the trade deadline three years ago. Would they be hurtling toward 100 losses for the second consecutive season? Will fans, media and the front office be looking back at another missed opportunity in 2027?
The past is in the past. We can only learn from it. Or not learn from it, if one feels the past went pretty swimmingly.
What’s undeniable is that learning about the three prospects Colorado received this week is a good idea because you’ll be hearing a lot about them. You’ll likely see one this season. The other two could debut in 2025. Let’s talk about them…
LHP Jalen Beeks to Pittsburgh for LHP Luis Peralta
Beeks was one of the few impending free agents for Colorado. A waiver wire claim last November, he was viewed as a veteran lefty for a bullpen that had none following the departure of Brent Suter in free agency.
Peralta ranked no. 24 by Baseball America in the Pirates system thanks to a breakout campaign. The 23-year-old is 4-0 with a 0.91 ERA (39.2 IP, 4 ER) in 26 relief appearances between High-A and Double-A.
The younger brother of Milwaukee Brewers’ All-Star Freddy Peralta has succeeded due to a 41% strikeout percentage that ranks eighth among all Minor League pitchers (min. 30 IP). Equally as impressive is his ability to avoid free passes this season, something that’s troubled him since becoming a professional. His current 3.56 K/BB rate would place him 10th-best in the Rockies system for those with as many innings pitched.
The 23-year-old has a fastball that sits in the 94-96 range, notable for a southpaw under 6’. Expected to return to the Eastern League and join the Double-A Hartford Yard Goats, his progress will be monitored closely as he’s eligible for the Rule 5 draft this winter.
RHP Nick Mears to Milwaukee for RHP Bradley Blalock and RHP Yujanyer Herrera
When news first broke of this deal on Saturday, it caught many by surprise. Mears was having an up-and-down season and was far from being the typical trade deadline candidate as he had yet to reach arbitration and still had three full years of club control remaining.
It might strike some as strange for the worst bullpen in baseball in terms of earned run average (5.59) to lose two of their better late-inning options. For a club that’s 19.5 games back of the third NL Wild Card with two months left to go, it’s rather inconsequential.
In return came two pitchers, one of whom — Blalock — occupies a spot on the 40-man roster. The 23-year-old appeared in one game with the Brewers this season, tossing a scoreless frame on June 20.
Selected in the 32nd round of the 2019 MLB Draft by the Boston Red Sox, Blalock was trade last year at the deadline for IF Luis Urías. Ranked 17th-best prospect by MLB Pipeline at the start of the season for Milwaukee, the 6’2” starter from Georgia currently slots in at no. 20 for the Rockies.
Now two years away from Tommy John surgery, Blalock has a curveball-slider-splitter combination that has fared well in the Double-A where he’s spent much of the year. He is 5-2 with a 4.08 ERA in the Southern League (lleague average is 3.73).
Herrera is an intriguing starting pitcher who has the best numbers of the trio. Still only 20 years old, the 6’3” righty is 9-1 with a 2.91 ERA (68.0 IP, 22 ER) with 23 walks and 77 strikeouts (10.2 SO/9) in 16 games (nine starts) in 2024 between Single-A Carolina and High-A Wisconsin.
He struggled to adapt to pro ball at first, but is doing better thanks to the development of his slider. Like Peralta, he is eligible for the Rule 5 draft at the 2024 Winter Meetings if not placed on the 40-man roster this offseason.
Written by